Pakamac

Hi Brian, Have you ever thought of opening a museum where you could exhibit your huge collection of macs ? I would be a regular visitor. Entry restricted to mackintoshed visitors only, of course.

Kendal are certainly "in the news"! I have fond memories of our Birmingham Bull Ring branch, and I still have all those see-through jelly jackets. Some were made by Kendal themslves, whilst the rest were manufactured by Pakamac, albeit when fashioned in Taiwan.
Mention of Kendal makes me remember other retail outlets which I used regularly in the 1980s-Faiman, Richards, Etam, to name but a few. And then there was the late, great C & A, with their wonderful ranges at such reasonable prices. I bought my Adrina nylon mac from there, one of my most prized items. I could write a book about this pakamac alone-another "waterproof love story" yet to come. Watch this space!
And, yes, Gareth, I have retained all my items, which currently number 950+. The reason for this large tally is down to Susie Boult, of the former Plastique Unique. She maintains she had 1500 items, and if she can do it, so can I! Susie is one of my waterproof mentors, and her Galleries on the Plastique Unique website are an inspiration to us all. They are also proof that there are genuine female rainwear enthusiasts, they just need tracking down.

Hi Jeff I did buy the macs from. KENDAL remeber my wife saying it was a good make and they felt quality and very exciting the plastic was a transparent and one had like a print on it if I remember correctly think the shop was called the Rubber Shop such a long time ago sadly regards

If it's the same Kendal that had a shop in Pontypridd in the late 1970's then I certainly remember them and the lovely see-through plastic poncho that I bought there; I still have it today although it's gone yellowy.

Hi Chris, thanks for your comment on my macs. Any chance of some details of the plastic macs you bought ?

Hi Brian good to hear from you often think when passing Birmingham on the M6 of you and the wonderful collection of macs you have what is the count to date?

Gareth has mentioned Kendal. I once bought several see through plastic jelly jackets from them, in one go, and the girl asked me if I was going on a boating trip! We all have our own, unique waterproof experiences, our own waterproof Love Stories, to adapt those Tesco advertisements.

Hi G I bought a couple of Rainstar macs for my late wife they were fantastic macs also some transparent plastic macs my favourite yours sound great Jeff if you are reading this

Hi does anybody remember the nylon macs made by Kendal then some time later the Rainstar nylon mac happy days

Hi G,
We stayed in a cottage close to Aberaeron and went into Aberaeron a couple of times and New Quay. Very enjoyable.

Hi Jeff sounds like you have had enjoyed a good break was it Aberaeron you went to in West Wales

Well, my see-through plastic mac certainly had some use over the past fortnight ! Wore it for most of the day on Sunday in Ambleside and Coniston and also a lot of the time on a Hebridean island, followed by a wet day in West Wales. Now looking forward to a couple of days in Blackpool to top it off.

Jeff

Hi Susan what a wonderful collection of macs you have I also love PVC macs and them black macs you have must be difficult for you to decide what mac to wear that's great

Having bought six nylon macs, one PVC Mack and eight plastic macs this year, an onlooker may well describe this period of time as period of almost a resurgence! OK, it's not the hay-day Pakamac years but with Amazon, eBay and the pvc-u-like offerings plus the Rainmac sale, I'm certainly celebrating.

This year, I discovered black EVA plastic macs. I'm hooked. OK, no lovely plastic aroma but the weight, sound, feel and look is fabulous.

Hi Jeff. It is nice to hear about your holiday. Wherever you are going in the lake district and then Scotland I am sure you will have a nice time. I think you are right you might have a lot of rain especially on sunday but it sounds like you are prepared for it and so hopefully you can sill have a nice time even if it rains all the time! And if you like gardens there are some really lovely ones in Scotland.

G. The macs I saw were hooded unisex ones

Hi Rob,

We are off to the Lake District on Saturday and then on to Scotland. According to the weather forecast I will be wearing my plastic mac most of the time.

Hi G, the sight of your teacher in her plastic mac obviously remains very clear in your mind as does my memory of my sister in her pale blue translucent plastic mac which had a matching belt and a matching concertina style rain bonnet with ties that were tied under the chin. Happy days.

Hi Susan are the plastic macs you have seen in Edinburgh like the ones you wearing in your photo or are they them unisex ones regards G

If anyone is visiting Edinburgh, it's always a good idea to look in the tourist shops on the Royal Mile. I've seen plastic macs on sale there quite recently.

Those memories of Blackpool remind me of all the plastic macs in shops in Skegness. The Lake District was always goood for plastic macs. So was Aberdeen a long time ago.

Hi Jeff my wife's mac is clear but as you said it is semi see through. If you are going to Wales, the lake district and then Scotland I think you are right you will probably need yours.

Hi Jeff good to hear from you I have had a thing for macs since infant school a teacher came to school in a transparent one and I have been hooked ever since it takes a exceptional understanding women to accept it and they are very rare you are lucky

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply. Your wife's plastic mac sounds nice; may I ask what colour it is ? My friend sent me a photo of the packaging of the macs he has ordered and, although they are unisex, it shows a photo of a lady wearing a clear see-through mac. It didn't occur to me that they may be black. We are off to Scotland with them soon so I should be able to let you know. My wife and I are also going to the Lake District and New Quay, west Wales over the next few weeks so I am expecting my plastic macs to get some use.

Yes, it's a shame that we don't see plastic macs for sale in the shops these days. I used to particularly enjoy being taken to Blackpool when I was young and most shops would stock them and many would hang them outside on display, flapping in the wind; a lovely sight.

MY wife never really liked plastic macs but tolerated them for my sake. Like most women, I suppose she feels comfortable wearing what other women are also wearing, not wanting to be classed as "odd".

Regards,
Jeff.

Hello G, I certainly consider myself extremely lucky that my wife tolerated macs for about 15 years or more, As you say, I did get accused of liking macs more than her. I accept that women are unable to understand how strong the attraction to macs can be. However, I had this fascination from a very early age and it has never left me.

Jeff.

Hi Jeff yes my wifes plastic mac is basically transparent but it doesn't look completely see through when its on so I think semi see through is a really good way of saying it thank you. My black Go mac is probably like your friends one. We are the same as you really we like them because it is easy to fold them up and just carry them and put them on when it starts to rain. It sounds like you have really needed yours on your holidays! I wonder why your wife doesn't like hers anymore. my wife wears hers a lot when it is raining and a lot of ladies ask her where she got it. It is a shame you cant buy them in the shops like you used to but perhaps you can still buy them in wales. Thank you for your nice comment it was nice to hear about your holidays perhaps you can write some more about them. We went on a railway when we were in Porthmadog two weeks ago and it really rained on us that day as well.

Hi Jeff twelve years was a good run my wife got fed up of macs after only two years I separated now most women would say is it me or the mac do you want or complain they are hot and sweaty think you have been lucky Jeff

Hello G,

I confessed my liking for plastic macs to my wife early in our courtship and she had no problem with it. After about 12 years of marriage she became less tolerant. She would rather me not wear my see-through mac when we are out in the rain but I enjoy it so much.

Jeff.

Hi Jeff good to hear from you passed your area today on my way to Swansea didn't see any one wearing a plastic mac sadly may I ask what does your wife make of your love of plastic macs?

Hi Susan, it was our first time in Northumberland. My wife and I stayed in Alnwick for a couple of days and did the touristy things such as Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle, Alnwick Castle and visited a couple of places along the coast like Alnmouth and Warkworth. We were really impressed with the area and intend to return soon.

I must be honest, I only wear my plastic mac when it's raining and just carry it if the rain stops.

I love your photos on Flickr and other sites such as pinterest and I have read your comments on Rainwear Central. I think it's very clever how you incorporate your photos into Pakamac adverts and magazine covers, you are obviously very good at Photo-shop. Well done. You may have seen some photos of my macs and other rainwear photos on Flickr, my user name is Taffmac.

Keep on enjoying wearing your macs,
Jeff.

Hello G, I live about 20 miles from Talgarth; I'm a "Valley boy". In fact, I drove through Talgarth yesterday on my way to Hay-on-Wye. It was very warm and sunny yesterday but I have worn my see-through plastic mac in Talgarth in the past when it has rained.

On a few of the occasions when I have worn my plastic mac on holidays my wife and I have been accompanied by two of our friends. Imagine my surprise when he texted me yesterday to say that he had ordered, and received, a couple of GO travel unisex plastic macs for him and his wife for a holiday in Scotland in a couple of weeks. So you see, it's up to us enthusiasts to wear our macs and encourage others to wear them too.

Regards, Jeff.

Thank you for the mention Jeff, in your post. What a pity I missed seeing you in your plastic mac, when you visited Northumberland. It could have been likely that you would have seen me in one of my macs, most likely a navy blue nylon mac (Rainstar or YB Wet, not Pakamac). Northumberland is a big county though. I go out wearing macs whether it's raining or not. How about you Jeff?

It's a real shame I don't have any macs from the Pakamac label in my collection. Nor am I likely to either, given the frenzy of bidding when one of a suitable size appears on eBay. I love it, though, that my image appears so many times in a Google image search for the word 'pakamac'. I've seen photos of Bev, G and of course Brian, before. Does anyone else have photos 'out there'?

Despite the lack of Pakamacs in my collection, I was surprised to see I still have a YB Wet nylon mac in it's bag and with tags attached. There's a photo on my Flickr pages.